Jump to content

flatdawgs

Certifiably Surly
  • Posts

    681
  • Joined

Everything posted by flatdawgs

  1. Hell, I already owe my soul to the BrisketCanecutter store.
  2. Can't wait to go down to the corner and trade in some more dólar blue.
  3. maybe maybe maybe I'll be there regardless
  4. @Sbbruin, can we at least go back to the old Pac-8?
  5. Portugal is somewhat similar re banking (I have an account in a Portuguese bank). One advantage of course is that Portugal is part of the EU and so everything is portable between EU countries - same with mobile phones, etc. In Portugal you must first obtain a NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal or tax ID number). This requires a bunch of paperwork including a background check here and a narrative stating where all your funds are sourced from. It was time-consuming although not particularly challenging. I highly recommend obtaining a local immigration attorney to assist with everything - mine is reasonably priced and extremely helpful. Note that many banks in the EU and elsewhere overseas will not take American clients due to the long reach of US financial laws. The political situation here had nothing to do with my starting this process - what's left of my family live in/are citizens of the UK, 2.5 hours from Faro rather than 9 from Seattle, and I speak some Portuguese - and at the moment I keep less than $10k in my account there to avoid the annoying US FBAR reporting requirements. Residency is a completely different kettle of fish; there are several possibilities depending on how long you wish to remain in country each year. Like here, it's 5 years minimum temporary residency before you can apply for permanent residency or citizenship. You need the NIF and bank account for any of the residency visas.
  6. You're not wrong. It is, along with the 100+ degree humid weather in the Gulf countries, the most miserable weather there is. We are masters of layering when it's time to be outside (and honestly stay in a lot, plus it's dark 15 hours a day in December anyway). However, you're an hour away from the cold, clearer weather in the mountains, and two hours from the high desert (and there are about 6 billion daily flights to Hawai'i, Tahiti, Mexico for when you just can't stand it any more, usually by February lol). IMPO the summers more than make up for it - 80, sunny, light until 10pm, no humidity, few if any bugs. Winter is the price we pay for the beautiful, verdant scenery.
  7. I'm from here, and yeah - lights are your friend during the "cozy season" lol. I've been to a lot of places (maybe almost as many as Inka) and the summers up here are unparalleled anywhere, but the piper must be paid and now is the time. Getting up into the mountains helps if you get into the snow stuff; the sun is normally out more up there on the east slopes. I've met quite a few expat Texans in the past few years who've made the move.
  8. All in all, it's a good place. If you can make it through one winter, you're a local. Get out and explore the state - and welcome.
  9. Forget it, Jake. It's South Carolina.
  10. Same here in WA. Everything I voted for passed/will pass. May need to close the Cascade and Sierra passes, but we'll let the Chili's brigade in.
  11. I know! 74 EV (Texas plus FL = 70)
  12. Ardbeg Alligator here
  13. No damn Chili's here and I can't make it to Spoklahoma. I couldn't even find any frozen Chili's crap in 3 different grocery stores. But - I'll raise a toast to YGIFS from a local variant and pour out a bit in honor of all y'all who are blessed by the proximity of a Chili's. Solidarity! ✊️
  14. The world is definitely watching. I am watching RTP3 (Portugal) covering the election live, commentary and all. With very few exceptions (the Chega party idiots) they want the same result most of us do.
  15. Yeah, was going to mention I'd been there and it takes place in a meeting room in the old late-1800s The Balsams resort, lots of photos of earlier election days, pols who had visited, and old result sheets on the walls, then turned it on and it was in somebody's living room this year (apparently the resort is getting renovated). Oh well.
  16. Fortunately, that won't be an issue for him come Wednesday.
  17. I love my state. Even though we don't have Chili's.
  18. These are common values of humanity. This phrasing has always pissed me off (not directed at you, Mole, just 40 years of propaganda).
  19. So, all this talk of Chili's and I got to thinking - here on the Surl I'm in Virtual Texas, but in my very blue corner of this country that is my home, there are no Chili's. None. None in WA or in OR. Zero. (No Bennigans either.) So - you can talk all the rah-rah Kamala progressive liberal stuff you want, but keep that in mind before you make Bah Gawd Texas into a progressive hellstate bereft of Chili's. You have been warned....
  20. This is why, at our best, there is no place like the US in the world. Should I decide to stay here, that's a huge reason why (along with the natural beauty here). Just take food - you may be in a place somewhere else in the world that has a simply astounding cuisine; there are many of those of course. But, when you're there, that's pretty much all you're gonna get. Theyve been doing it for thousands of years and it's exquisite, but that's the bulk of your options. Here even smaller cities and big towns have a diversity of choice that only the biggest cities elsewhere in the world can try to match. That goes along with the diversity of our people, which is the greatest thing we offer the world. To hell with all of these people trying to destroy that. Plus we have Chili's. And/or Bennigans.
  21. Good on ya, seriously. You're going into it with the right perspective (and we did very few favors to many of the Pacific island peoples after the war - throw on that pile our still shameful refusal to fully recognize the Philippine Scouts for what they did under occupation as well). Melanesia is a fascinating place; i slightly preferred Vanuatu to the Solomons, save for the war history, but both amazing people and places. Maybe you'll be the one to make a difference there. it's sad to me to see China making inroads in a place that holds some of our most sacred ground (Guadalcanal, for others reading). Love Troost - worked with his mom many years ago, although never met him. Funny guy and good writer who slayed some demons along the way. His description of Tarawa is spot on, BTW.
  22. No worries - I didn't take it that way at all!
  23. Definitely better on another thread, although there are always these sentiments when stuff goes off the rails, as we see in this thread. My personal experiences in Portugal have been different; Portugal, like much of Europe, has been going through a lot of stress re housing, and Americans are actually a pretty small part of that. A lot of the angst in Europe is directed at tourists in places like Barcelona and Venice (although living in Seattle I laugh a bit as we get nearly as many tourists as Barca and all within about 3 months, and we don't hate you). I do speak some Portuguese, which does help, but that falls under the "give a tiny shit about our culture and we will be extremely happy with you." I just get teased because what I speak - or try to - is Brazilian Portuguese. Thanks for the kind words.
  24. You can definitely detach more when you expatriate, because those aren't "your people" doing this crazy shit - until, of course, you've made it your home, and then they are. I'm definitely not opposed to the expat life at all; my posts re Portugal out front shoulda told ya, and my sister and her family have lived in London for 20 years and have dual citizenship (note - to me the UK is definitely a grass is greener thing and I'd personally not consider it, but to each their own). By all means look into it as the adventure that it is, and if you go into it that way, to a place and culture that really speaks to you, you'll have success.
×
×
  • Create New...